With the national debate over gun control reaching supercharged levels in the wake of the Connecticut school shootings, Dallas-area gun retailers are seeing a rush in sales of high-powered weapons.

The phone at McClelland Gun Shop in Dallas was ringing almost continuously Saturday, with the majority of prospective buyers inquiring about the same type of weapons.

“I can’t tell you how many, but we keep quite a few of the assault rifles in stock, especially around Christmas, and I can tell you we are completely sold out,” owner Ron Rutledge said.

In the last week, sales at the family-owned business have tripled from the same period in previous years.

Rutledge said he attributes the surge to customers fearing for their personal security since the shooting in Newtown, Conn., and concerns that guns will become more difficult to purchase.

“When people believe the government is going to take something, they do get excited about it,” he said. “And the whole fear [of many buyers] is they are going to legislate or make it tough to get assault weapons.”

All of the assault-type rifles typically hanging for sale on the store’s wall had been sold Saturday, and they won’t be restocked until after Christmas because manufacturers and distributors are backlogged, Rutledge said.

“We have had hundreds of phone calls,” he said. “Quite a few people out there, I am sure, want to buy, but the market is drying up pretty quick from what I’ve heard.”

Other local gun shop owners confirmed a rise in business.

Edward Early, owner of Jackson Armory in Dallas, declined to comment other than to say that his shop was sold out of assault-type weapons and had received hundreds of inquiries.

In the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats have vowed to pass a new assault weapons ban, along with other new laws to bolster background checks on gun buyers and limit the size of ammunition magazines.

Rutledge said the possibility of new restrictions wasn’t worrying him from a business standpoint.

“We are multiplatform,” he said. “Along with selling guns, we do a lot of custom builds and restoration. So if guns did disappear, people would still need guns worked on.”

On Saturday, business remained brisk.

Gun enthusiast Kevin LaFond visited the store to pick up a custom-built .22-caliber AR-15 rifle as a Christmas present for his 8-year-old daughter.

“Yeah, I am pretty lucky I ordered this early. I hear they are selling out everywhere,” LaFond said.

Customer Danny Harp was in search of a higher-end semiautomatic but wasn’t able to find it during his trip to the store.

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